The four agreed to freeze their average monthly oil output throughout 2016 at January levels if other countries followed suit.
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Iran said on Wednesday that it would reject any effort to limit its oil output, dealing a blow to a proposal by Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia that oil exporters freeze production to bolster prices.
Iran said in January that it planned to add to its production, which stands at 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd) despite the drop in price, and should not be blamed for further price falls.
“This decision of [top oil producers] to freeze production is a publicity stunt more than anything”, said Josh Mahony, a market analyst with IG, based in London.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh met counterparts from Venezuela, Iraq and Qatar in Tehran for over two hours, after which he welcomed the initiative to set a “ceiling” as a first step towards stabilising the market.
Iran should have increased production by 500,000 barrels a day by March 20, the end of the Iranian calendar year, Shana reported on Wednesday, citing Roknoddin Javadi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Co.
The ministers from Iran, Iraq, Qatar and Venezuela are meeting in Tehran with a view to building on an agreement reached on Tuesday between other strategic oil-producing states aimed at curbing short-term production growth. They agreed to act only if other producers made similar freezes. “We welcome cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC (producers)”.
ANKARA/DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran signaled on Wednesday it would take a tough line in talks among oil producers on restraining production, saying it would continue increasing its output until it reached levels seen before global sanctions were imposed.
The Doha meeting came after more than 18 months of declining oil prices, knocking crude below $30 a barrel for the first time in over a decade.
Iran, which was the second-biggest producer in Opec before sanctions were intensified in 2012, is seeking to boost output by one million barrels a day and regain market share.
The sources did not elaborate on the special terms, which could be anything from setting limited production increases to linking future output rises to a recovery in oil prices.
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Oil prices rose to $35.55 per barrel but later pared gains to trade below $34 as expectations for an immediate deal faded. On December 2015 and while sanctions were still in effect, Iran’s oil exports to Japan surpassed those of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Russia, and Kuwait. Sanctions cut that to around 1.1 million bpd.
